Birthday Memories!

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Thank you for the birthday greetings I received from you all who stopped by to share the lurve and I have to say it has been a really nice week! It was not only my birthday but also my turn to host Afternoon Tea with my regular group of ladies of whom I rotate with and I also invited my best friend Erin who won't be able to join me this week for yet another party time this week. I know it just keeps going and going and going. Heck, I say that your birthday isn't REALLY over until you spend the last gift card, so you can really stretch these things out.

For my tea party I thought we'd do something a little different. Instead of the dinning room, I moved the party to the family room to watch one of my favorite Jane Austen novels adapted into a movie ~ PERSUASION.

I lurve this version the best because it stays truest to the book and of course the excellent casting...

For my little giftie, I made these EASY Pumpkin Spice Cookies to share. Minimum 2 ingredients, that's right - only 2 - but you can add 2 more if you want nuts or white chocolate chips.

These are soft, moist cookies so I DO NOT recommend storing them in an airtight container otherwise they will get mushy. To keep them from doing that I stored them in brown paper bags that I hole punched to allow air to flow through the bags as you'll see in the pictures below.

I added a little scented packet for embellishment...

And placed them on the table ready to hand out as the ladies left the party.

I nearly forgot to take pictures again...

Here is Erin and I... I was fixing the color of the original photo and accidently made it black and white... and liked it so much that I kept it that way.

During our movie, my sister Melody's Grand-daughter, Audrina came over to visit and got passed around for all the love!

Even my bloggyland friends who commented on my birthday post joined us for cake and presents! tee hee ... Do you see yourself?

For dessert, I made a Pumpkin Spice cake using this recipe. The only change I made was not using white chocolate chips as the frosting - I chose Cream Cheese Frosting instead. This was a keeper, EVERYONE loved it and again it is another easy recipe.

My sister Melody even wrapped my presents in Regency Era trimmings!

Cookware from my Mom, I lurve kitchen stuff!

Victoria got me this great book... 101 Things You Don't Know About Jane Austen! Can you see my excitement?!

Ann drove up to Northern California recently and spent the day at Apple Hill. It is a community of apple farmers who open their farms every weekend September through November selling everything you can think of with apples and crafters also join in selling their creative things. Ann brought me back some Pumpkin butter and Apple Cinnamon Sauce.

My Mother-in-Law brought me back from her trip to Greece this LOVELY handcrafted with crystal beads pitcher cover. Here I am demonstrating how it works over a glass.

She also brought me back this BEAUTIFUL painted card table cover for Christmas. I started to crop this picture until I saw the expression on my sisters face.... Hmm - perhaps she's jealous because she didn't get one? ha ha Melody - why were you making that face? ha ha

Yahoo, Erin got me a gift card to Michael's Crafts store! I lurve going there. Everytime I walk in there it makes me believe I'm more creative than I really am! ha ha

Now here I have saved the best for last! On the evening my birthday, my children surprised me with a song they had written themselves using instruments! This was a light-bulb moment for me because it suddenly made sense why I've heard faint bits of music in their bedrooms for the past few weeks.

My Boy came up with his own Drum Set of items that made different sounds. His sticks are Ping Pong paddles. ha ha Soooooo cute!

Homemade cards! My Girls says... "Your the best Mom ever! Even though your 41, your still quite some fun!"

Even Samson came and got all comfortable in my lap, he lets me hold his hands/paws. He is 7 months old now, starting to look like a teenager. He's so loveable! He's even getting trained to the word ~ TREATS! I'll ask him if he wants a TREAT and he races to the cupboard, sliding on the kitchen floor to make the turn where we keep them. ha ha

Another great birthday memory!

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